The Clunkster

cruelty free drugstore brand

Renpure's Keratin and Argan Restorative Shampoo

Cruelty-Free, Beauty, Beauty ReviewKristenComment

Hello, my angels! I’m coming at you live from Long Island, New York, where I’m surrounded by boxes and piles of my belongings. Things are coming together slowly but surely, but I’m still overwhelmed! 

Today, I’m writing about Renpure’s Keratin and Argan Restorative Shampoo. I found it in Target earlier this year and decided to buy it because it had great ingredients and my hair needed some serious restoring at the time. Since then, I’ve chopped a chunk of my mane off (which you’d know if you were following me on Instagram ;) ). My hair feels so happy and healthy!

Anyway, I’ve been trying to use more natural, clean beauty products lately. Renpure stood out to me in the beauty aisle because of this shampoo’s two main ingredients: argan and keratin. I knew that keratin makes hair straighter and smoother, and that argan oil has a ton of healing properties. I’ve learned from Renpure’s website that argan has lots of vitamin E, antioxidants, and fatty acids, which hydrate and refresh your hair. This shampoo was made with berries, apples, and desert lily, so it smells super yummy, which is really important to me all the time, but especially in the shower. 

All of Renpure’s products are free of sulfates, phthalates, dyes, parabens, gluten, propylene glycol, and, my favorite, “bad vibes” :) Renpure donates personal care products to homeless shelters and people affected by natural disasters as well. 

As much as I love Renpure’s mission and practices, I wasn’t the biggest fan of this shampoo. There was nothing wrong with it, but it definitely fell short of my expectations. I’ve been using it for a while, and I saw no difference in the smoothness of my hair or in my split ends, which I had lots of before I chopped them off. With such great ingredients and mission, I really expected more. I wouldn’t be against trying them in the future, but I probably wouldn’t go nuts to buy them again.

Have you tried Renpure’s products? Let me know what you think in the comments!

Physician's Formula's Organic Wear Natural Origin Work It! Full! Flared! Fit! Mascara

Beauty, Beauty Review, Cruelty-FreeKristenComment

You all know how much I love my eyelashes. Mascara is the most important part of my makeup routine, so I’ve been on the hunt for a mascara that I really, really love. Last year, I tried out Physician’s Formula’s Organic Wear Natural Origin Work It! Full! Flared! Fit! Mascara. That was fun to type.

The reason I took a look at Physician’s Formula’s products in CVS was because the mascara that I was using previously was starting to make my eyes really itchy, and I knew that Physician’s Formula uses hypoallergenic ingredients. I wanted to find something that stayed on really well, since that was also a problem I was having, but my number one concern was the itchiness. Thankfully, I found this mascara (I can’t type all those exclamation points again), which claimed to address both concerns.

The packaging of this mascara claims that this formula is “guaranteed to last through your toughest workout,” and “delivers maximum strength adherence.” So I figured this was the one to try.

The Pros

This mascara definitely didn’t make my eyes itchy, but I’m not sure if I can attribute that to the organic ingredients. I love a good all-natural formula, but since I bought this mascara I’ve used organic formulas that make me itchy and non-organic formulas that don’t. So I don’t really think it’s relevant.

I’m a really big fan of the brush. It covers a lot of ground and its bristles get in between my lashes, which I really love. I like mascara better when it helps me define and lift my lashes as opposed to giving them volume, which is exactly what this mascara did. I love the way it looks on my lashes. This mascara indeed makes me feel both “Full!” and “Flared!”

The Con

I’m such a fan of Physician’s Formula’s mission to use organic ingredients to help sensitive skin. But I can’t ignore that the claims that this mascara is “10K Proof. Gym Proof. Sweat Proof. Water Resistant,” are completely untrue. After about a week of wearing this mascara, I found myself crying in public (hey, it happens to the best of us). I wiped away my tears and honestly didn’t think about how I looked because I was wearing my new rigorously waterproof mascara.

Guys. I got home and looked in the mirror, and I had mascara all over my face. Literally all over my face.

Usually, when I cry with makeup on, my mascara gets clumpy and stubborn, so when I wipe my tears things just get a little sticky but I only look a little bit like a raccoon. In this case, however, my tears took the formula and collected it into small pools under my eyes which then descended down my face in small rivers. And wiping my tears didn’t help things at all!

I really don’t mean to be harsh, but I was very disappointed with this part of the formula because Physician’s Formula claimed that this mascara is “rigorously tested to withstand your most athletic activities,” but it couldn’t withstand an anxiety attack on the T. Since this was a big part of why I decided to purchase this mascara, I felt really let down.

We were rooting for you, Physician’s Formula. We were all rooting for you.

Overall though, I definitely recommend this mascara for days when you know for a fact you won’t be crying or for days you don’t care if you have Physician’s Formula decorating your cheeks. I really loved the way this formula made my lashes look, so I would only use it when I would go out or to top off my lashes after I used another mascara. I’m done with the tube now, and I don’t think I’d purchase it again, but I’m happy I gave this brand a try. I probably won’t buy any other Physician’s Formula products in the future because I don’t trust a lot of what they say now, to be honest. But if Physician’s Formula works for you, I’m so happy!


For more information about going cruelty-free, check out PETA’s Searchable Database or Cruelty-Free Kitty’s alphabetized list of cruelty-free brands.

shea moisture's 100% virgin coconut oil daily hydration conditioner review

Cruelty-Free, Beauty, Beauty ReviewKristenComment

Hey beauties! I have a new review for you! I truly love doing these reviews, I just tend to take more time with them because I like to give you guys the most accurate information. I like to give things enough time to ~do their magic~.

Today, I’m reviewing Shea Moisture’s 100% Virgin Coconut Oil Daily Hydration Conditioner. I ran out of Lush’s Jungle a while ago, so I decided to switch things up a bit and try something from Shea Moisture. I reviewed their 100% Virgin Coconut Oil Daily Hydration Glow Priming Moisturizer a while back, and I loved it so much! So when I saw this conditioner at CVS, I knew it would be just as good, and I was so right.

One of the things that really stands out to me whenever I use Shea Moisture products is their amazing list of ingredients! I love cruelty-free brands, but Shea Moisture is free of so many things I didn’t even know were bad for you. I added them to my list of things to learn about, so I’ll let you know what I find out! This conditioner is free of sulfates, parabens, mineral oil, propylene glycol, phthalates, and petrolatum. So many funny words.

Anyway, I’m so happy I gave this conditioner a try! Shea Moisture did not let me down. I really love the pump design of this bottle. It’s really easy to use in the shower. It also smells freakin’ amazing. You all know how much I love my scents, but I especially love them when I’m showering. It completes the experience! And who doesn’t love coconut?

Scents aside, this conditioner really works. My hair is thick and gets dry really easily, but this conditioner does an awesome job of keeping it super soft and hydrated. Conditioner tends to make my hair greasy, but Shea Moisture’s doesn’t. This conditioner checks off all my boxes and more. I sound like a Bachelor contestant.

I highly recommend this conditioner. Since I’m running out of shampoo, I think I’m gonna try some from Shea Moisture next! Have you tried any of their products before? Let me know in the comments!

For more information about going cruelty-free, check out PETA’s Searchable Database or Cruelty-Free Kitty’s alphabetized list of cruelty-free brands.

milani conceal and perfect 2-in-1 foundation and concealer

Cruelty-Free, Beauty, Beauty ReviewKristenComment

Hello, my lovelies! I’m back with another cruelty-free beauty review. I told you guys a while ago that I’m trying to think out of the box more and try some new things! This time around, I decided to check out Milani’s Conceal and Perfect 2-in-1 Foundation and Concealer. When I was researching cruelty-free foundations, this one came up a lot! People said it had a really great finish and amazing coverage.

I definitely agree that this foundation is great with coverage, but unfortunately, I wasn’t a huge fan of this formula. Obviously, coverage is essential with foundation, but I think because this is both a concealer and a foundation, the formula is super thick. I had a really hard time applying this evenly, so I didn’t get that flawless finish I read about.

This also wasn’t really my shade. There was a limited amount of shades at CVS, and the darker shade was too dark, so I went with this one, 00 Light Natural. Now that I’m looking at Milani’s website, I see that there are way more shades, and 00A Porcelain, which is Fair with Neutral Pink Undertone, would probably be better for me. This one made me look really yellow, most likely because it has a peach undertone. Maybe if I really needed the coverage, this would’ve looked better (even though this is considered light-to-medium coverage).

Overall, this foundation was just a little too thick, so my face looked really cakey and unnatural. Most of the time, I had a really hard time matching my face to my neck. If you’re looking for something full-coverage, definitely give this formula a try and let me know how you like it in the comments! It’s just not for me.

If you’re interested in going cruelty-free, check out PETA’s Searchable Database and Cruelty-Free Kitty’s alphabetized list of cruelty-free brands. If you have any cruelty-free recommendations, please comment them below!